“The Splitter,” as the new content is known, features Van Damme in the role of Max Valliant, a former ICA agent who somehow avoided a previous assassination attempt several years prior. Agent 47 will need to infiltrate the rainy streets and underground data facility of Chongqing, China as he escorts an ICA board member, susses out Valliant’s “sinister agenda,” and finally puts the fellow assassin down for good.
“Max Valliant is quite the entertaining character, bringing a lot of action movie villain energy, he is ruthless, and of course, he can do the split!” Van Damme said, referring to own penchant for performing the splits in his movies and stunts. “The Splitter is a thrilling mission and like in any good action flick, Hitman players will have a few surprises, but I’ll let them find out by themselves.”
Like all elusive targets, The Splitter cannot be attempted again if failed (restarting is always allowed, of course) and has a hard end date, this time Jan. 12, 2025. Paid downloadable content will provide endless retries in arcade mode as well as a new SMG, kukri knife, and cosmetics based on the mission. And finally, the new “Season of the Splitter” roadmap will feature three missions developed by the Hitman community, new featured contracts, and the return of past elusive targets.
Black Ops 6 is the latest entry in the very long-running Black Ops wing of Activision’s Call of Duty series. Specializing more in alternate history and spy craft than other Call of Duty games, Black Ops 6 launches with a new campaign set during the height of the Gulf War. As usual, the game will offer a campaign, multiplayer, and a zombies mode.
Here’s what time Black Ops 6 releases, including a breakdown of when it’s available on which platforms, if you can play it on Game Pass or not, and a brief overview of what’s new.
What time does Black Ops 6 release on PC?
Image: Activision
Black Ops 6 releases on Windows PC (both Steam and Battle.net) at 9 p.m. PDT on Thursday, Oct. 24. Here’s when that is in your time zone, or you can check the image above:
9 p.m. PDT on Oct. 24 for the West Coast of North America
12 a.m. EDTon Oct. 25 for the East Coast of North America
5 a.m. BST on Oct. 25 for the U.K.
6 a.m. CESTon Oct. 25 for Western Europe/Paris
1 p.m. JSTon Oct. 25 for Tokyo
Black Ops 6 is currently available to pre-load for all playerson all platforms.
What time does Black Ops 6 release on PlayStation, Xbox, and Microsoft Store?
Image: Activision
For PlayStation, Xbox, and Microsoft Store PC players, things are a little weird. Activision is giving a release window for the game, from 4 a.m. – 11 p.m. PT on Oct. 24.
At the very least, Black Ops 6 should be available before midnight PT on Oct. 25, but it could also launch several hours earlier. At the moment, your best bet is to follow the Call of Duty blog or Call of Duty’s official social media accounts, though we’ll update this guide if Activision provides more clarity.
Is Black Ops 6 on Game Pass?
Yes, Black Ops 6 is the first Call of Duty game to launch on Xbox Game Pass, following Microsoft’s official acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year. However, there is a minor catch here. Game Pass Core and Game Pass Standard subscribers will not gain access to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at launch.
The game will only launch for PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. If you already have one of those tiers, you’ll be able to play on launch day alongside everyone else. If not, you’ll need to upgrade to a higher Game Pass tier or purchase the game separately.
What’s new in Black Ops 6?
Image: Activision
Black Ops 6 is the return of the subseries started more than a decade ago, and takes the alternate history and applies it to the Gulf War and early ‘90s America. The game comes with the three big Call of Duty staples, as usual: campaign, multiplayer, and zombies. Unlike last year’s title, this zombies mode returns to its classic round-based variant.
The big new feature for this game is omnimovement, which drastically improves players’ ability to maneuver the battlefield in and out of combat.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen much from Wizards of the Coast and Archetype Entertainment’s Exodus, the upcoming sci-fi role-playing game from former BioWare developers. Sure, the studio has been dropping lore and concept art since revealing Exodus at last year’s The Game Awards, but a new trailer for the game released Wednesday offers a much-needed reminder of Archetype’s upcoming project.
Archetype’s latest reveal for Exodus is timed to Spooky Season — and is thus appropriately terrifying. The game’s new cinematic trailer introduces the Mara-Yama, an alien threat that travels in fleshy ships and relentlessly pursues and overwhelms its victims. Think Star Trek’s the Borg, but instead of voyaging through space in black cubes, Exodus’ unrelenting predator species gets around in ships that use grotesque extremities like a physical tractor beam.
According to some moody narration, courtesy of actor Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar), the Mara-Yama “feed on fear, delight in cruelty, and revel in the agony of their prey. They aren’t just hunters — they are sadistic predators who savor every moment of psychological torment they inflict.” The name Mara-Yama is a reference to the deities Mara and Yama, representations of death and the underworld in Dharmic religions.
While these cosmic horrors may not be appealing, necessarily, they have stoked my interested in Exodus. I’m digging the coldness-and-cruelty-of-space-demons thing that McConaughey’s vibing about here.
Apparently, we’re going to be hearing a lot more from McConaughey; he’s portraying a character named C.C. Orlev for Exodus. The developer describes him as a “self-proclaimed spokesman” for Exodus, and an infamous character in the game’s fiction.
Exodus does not have a release date. It’s currently in development for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, and, according to executive creative director James Ohlen, is just the start of a new universe.
Archetype’s debut title is part of a billion-dollar bet on internal game development at parent company Hasbro. In addition to Archetype Entertainment, Hasbro has Atomic Arcade, which is working on a G.I. Joe game starring Snake Eyes; Invoke Studios, which is developing a Dungeons & Dragons game; and Skeleton Key, which is working on “something spooky.”
There are multiple hidden levels in Astro Bot, which primarily take the form as hidden planets in each nebula. You’ll need to unveil them if you want to complete every level and rescue every bot. The trick is, you might not even know you’re missing a planet until you complete the nebula and see you’ve somehow missed a few bots and puzzle pieces on the progress screen.
In this Astro Bot guide, we’ll walk you through how to unlock hidden levels and show you where to find all hidden levels.
How to unlock hidden levels in Astro Bot
Look for asteroids or meteors like this one to unlock hidden planetsImage: Team Asobi/PlayStation Studios via Polygon
When you first unlock a nebula in Astro Bot, you’ll have access to one planet. As you complete more levels, more planets will appear, until eventually you’re able to face the boss. However, there are a ton of little planetoids hidden in the nebulas, all of which house a bot. There are even some puzzle pieces that have been abducted by aliens, which you’ll need to chase around the screen to collect.
To get these hidden levels to appear, just fly around until they pop up! Now, there are some caveats there that make it a bit more complex, but generally speaking it’s that simple.
Oftentimes these events won’t show up until you’ve completed other planets in the nebula, so it’s best to wait until you’ve completed all of the core planets before poking around for new ones. Once you’ve finished the nebula’s boss and iconic level, just fly around the screen, bumping into the planets. Eventually — usually within 20 seconds — some event will show up on screen, prompting you to investigate.
All of these events are very straightforward. Most of the time you just need to bump into the planet with your ship and it’ll turn into a level. Other times you might need to fly through a bunch of asteroids, swirl around some space debris, or chase down an alien carrying a puzzle piece.
In four of the five nebulas, you’ll eventually find voids shaped like one of the four PlayStation buttons. By launching those levels and running through to the end, you’ll unlock four new challenges in that nebula, themed after an X, Circle, Square, or Triangle.
If you’ve flown around for 15 to 20 seconds and nothing is showing up, try backing out of the nebula and coming back in. Sometimes doesn’t spawn more than one event per trip.
All hidden level locations in Astro Bot
Below, we’ve provided annotated screenshots showing you what the fully completed version of each nebula should look like after finding all hidden levels, so you’re able to tell at a glance which planets you might be missing.
There are three hidden levels and no challenge levels in the Gorilla Nebula.
Image: Team Asobi/PlayStation Studios via Polygon
Rolling Star Sola (Hidden)
Retro Rampage 1 (Hidden)
Crumble Rumble 1 (Hidden)
The Tentacle System has two hidden levels and four challenge levels.
Image: Team Asobi/PlayStation Studios via Polygon
Image: Team Asobi/PlayStation Studios via Polygon
Retro Rampage 2 (Hidden)
Crumble Rumble 2 (Hidden)
Cut ‘N Grind (Challenge)
Dashing Dillo (Challenge)
Pumpkin Peril (Challenge)
Fragile Frenzy (Challenge)
The Serpent Starway has three hidden levels and four challenge levels.
Image: Team Asobi/PlayStation Studios via Polygon
Image: Team Asobi/PlayStation Studios via Polygon
Ropeway Rally (Hidden)
Retro Rampage 3 (Hidden)
Crumble Rumble 3 (Hidden)
Magnetic Mayhem (Challenge)
Ropeway Rally (Challenge)
Rolling Rampage (Challenge)
Swinging Sentries (Challenge)
The Camo Cosmos has two hidden levels and four challenge levels.
Image: Team Asobi/PlayStation Studios via Polygon
Image: Team Asobi/PlayStation Studios via Polygon
Retro Rampage 4 (Hidden)
Crumble Rumble 4 (Hidden)
Boing! Bonanza (Challenge)
Follow The Light (Challenge)
Splashing Sprint (Challenge)
Vertical Velocity (Challenge)
The Feather Cluster has three hidden levels and four challenge levels.
Life Is Strange: Double Exposure simultaneously serves as a welcoming return and an exciting leap forward, as fan-favorite protagonist Max Caulfield steps back into the spotlight with new friends, a fresh mystery, and reality-bending abilities. I took the game for a spin during Gamescom and the demo revealed, to my surprise, that Double Exposure may be the series’ most mechanically intriguing entry yet.
With the game set a decade after the events of the original Life Is Strange, the now-adult Max has left Arcadia Bay and works as an artist-in-residence at Caledon University in upstate Vermont. She’s formed a new friend circle in Moses, a science enthusiast, and Safi, daughter of the university’s president. Since the cataclysmic events at Arcadia Bay, of which both endings will funnel into this narrative, Max has sworn never to use her time-rewind power again. However, her new peace becomes shattered when Safi is mysteriously murdered, prompting Max to attempt to save her by winding back the clock for the first time in years. For reasons unknown, the lengthy period of inactivity has caused Max’s power to evolve, and she manages to tear through the fabric of time and space to access an alternate timeline where Safi still lives but remains in mortal danger. Thus, Double Exposure becomes a double murder mystery with players utilizing Max’s newfound Shift power to jump between timelines to discover the identity of the killer in one reality while preventing Safi’s murder in the other.
The Gamescom demo takes place shortly after Safi’s murder. I won’t spoil the narrative details, but Max must retrieve Safi’s camera from a classroom while avoiding detection by a snooping detective. While the room is locked in her current timeline, the same may not be true in the alternate reality. Keeping track of which timeline you occupy is easy thanks to an icon in the upper-left corner labeling the reality as “Living” or “Dead,” referencing Safi’s fate in that world. Using Max’s Pulse ability, another new trick that lets her detect and reveal ghostly elements from the other timeline without doing a full swap, I find a glowing weak point between realities where switching timelines becomes possible. Making the jump sees Max pull apart the current reality like she’s opening a pair of curtains to instantaneously cross over to the other side. The snappiness of this transition makes for a cool visual.
Getting my hands on Safi’s camera becomes an involved exercise in exploring the two-story room, finding clues and hitting dead ends that can only be circumvented by switching to the other timeline. Elements such as the room’s layout, the characters’ current activities and moods, and the location of important items differ in each timeline, and the crux of puzzle-solving involves figuring out how gathering information in one world answers a question in the opposite one.
What begins as a simple search for a safe spirals into using an astronomy chart to find a vital constellation referenced by Moses, then activating a projector to overlay a star chart on a classroom mural in such a manner that the orientation of the constellation reveals the hidden location of the safe’s item. Solving this single puzzle requires several timeline shifts to unravel smaller riddles that logically build toward the solution.
Upon solving this puzzle, the detective forces his way into the classroom, triggering a stealth sequence where I need to escape the room undetected. Simply sneaking past him isn’t enough; I need a loud object to create a distraction, and it can only be found in the Living reality. Since the patrolling investigator blocks certain routes in the cluttered, box-ridden room, getting past him requires a few strategic uses of Shift, as he’s not present in the Living timeline.
While Double Exposure seems to test your noodle more than previous entries, it still heavily emphasizes managing character relationships and steering the story through dialogue choices. However, timeline hopping adds some spice to this formula. While a character may be hesitant to reveal a crucial personal secret in one timeline, their counterpart may be more forthcoming, offering information that can give Max the upper hand. Resorting to using knowledge Max technically shouldn’t possess may not go over well, though, adding a thoughtful wrinkle to conversations.
The Double Exposure Gamescom demo sold me on Shift as a fun mechanic, and I’m excited to see how the game further leverages it to tell its tale. Tack on the return of Max and I’m itching to see how this multiversal murder mystery unravels.
Zenless Zone Zero just closed out its version 1.1 livestream, teasing what’s to come in the next update, which launches the evening of Aug. 13 EDT. Alongside new characters and events, Hoyoverse uses the stream to distribute codes that reward free Polychrome and other upgrade materials.
The 1.1 patch will add three new agents to the game: Seth, Qingyi, and Jane Done (yes, that’s really her name). Qingyi is an S-rank electric stun character whose banner will run during the first half of the patch and Jane is an S-rank physical anomaly character who will run during the second half of the patch. Seth is an A-rank character, and he’ll be in the banner alongside Jane. The update also will add a special story about Jane Done, and an agent story for Qingyi, as well as new events, and additional content for Shiyu Defense.
Zenless Zone Zero 1.1 livestream codes
These codes are usually only active until the day ends, so you’ll want to make sure to use them quickly.
There’s actually only one Zenless Zone Zero reward code from the version 1.1 livestream:
This single code does reward the same amount of premium currency that the usual three codes we see from Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail streams reward: 300 Polychromes.
The code will expire on Aug. 4 at 11:59 a.m. EDT / 8:59 a.m. PDT, so use it quickly or you’ll miss out on the free loot. For more codes that don’t expire in just a few hours, you can check out our constantly-updated list of active Zenless Zone Zero codes.
How to redeem codes in Zenless Zone Zero
You can redeem the codes in game by opening the menu, selecting “more,” “redemption code” and then “enter redemption code.” This menu will become available once you finish “The Hare and the Proxy,” though some codes won’t be redeemable until you’re Inter-Knot level five or higher.
Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon
You can also redeem them online through the Zenless Zone Zero code redeem website. You’ll need to select your correct server and login through the website in order to get rewards. You will also need to have a working UID for Zenless Zone Zero. If you’ve never logged into Zenless Zone Zero in any form using your Hoyoverse account, it will not work.
Like many other sports gamers, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of EA Sports College Football 25for what feels like decades. Now it’s finally here in early access, and I’m overjoyed. I’ve been loving my time with the game, in both Ultimate Team and Dynasty modes, but there’s one particular bone I have to pick with the option system that’s holding me back from being fully enamored with the new entry.
Option offenses are crucial to any good football video game, but especially at the collegiate level, where many teams run option-based offenses. For years, EA’s preferred controller input for a read option — where the quarterback makes a read on the defense to determine whether to hold on to the ball or hand it off — has been the same: Tap X (or A on Xbox) to hand it off, or do nothing to keep it.
For some reason, EA Sports College Football 25 has inverted this long-standing tradition. Instead, you tap X/A for the quarterback to pull the ball back and keep it, or press nothing to hand it off. I’m starting to get used to it, but this involves overcoming years of muscle memory in both this franchise and the Madden games. I’ve made dozens of mistakes in the option game already — keeping it when I meant to hand it off, or vice versa — and I would conservatively estimate that it’s cost me 45 yards, two touchdowns, and probably two gray hairs in an otherwise fantastic gameplay experience.
For me, it just makes more sense to press a button to give the ball rather than press a button to keep it. I can understand that, in theory, the action of pulling the ball back is more significant for the quarterback than giving it away. But in these games, you aren’t just playing the quarterback; you’re controlling the offense. And handing off the ball seems more like an action than not handing it off, making that the more fitting place for a button press. And at the end of the day, years of muscle memory will triumph, especially with a blitzing linebacker in your face.
College Football 25 has plenty of control optimization options already. You can change the new passing or kicking systems back to the old controls. Why not add a toggle to change the option controls? The game has lots of quality-of-life upgrades, like running out the clock instantly on quarterback kneels, when applicable. Let’s add one more and bring back the old option controls.
Hoyoverse just wrapped up theGenshin Impactversion 4.8 preview livestream, showing off all sorts of details about the upcoming patch. Most importantly, there were several codes that award Primogems and other rewards shown during the stream.
Our Genshin Impact 4.8 livestream code list provides you with the three stream codes for rewards and explains how to redeem them.
It’s summertime! So that means the next Genshin Impact patch will be the massive summer event, where there’s a limited time map, new skins for Nilou and Kirara, and — if it follows the same pattern as previous summer events — a hint about the upcoming region, Natlan. The stream also showed off Emilie, an upcoming Dendro character who will make her debut in version 4.8.
Genshin Impact version 4.8 livestream codes
The codes are as follows:
You’ll want to redeem these codes quickly, as they expire on July 6 at 12 a.m. EDT.
They not only reward Primogems, but they also give Mora and Adventurer’s EXP to level up your characters.
How to redeem Genshin Impact gift codes
To redeem codes, you can log in and input them on the code redemption website. You can also input them in-game through the settings menu, but copy and pasting them in a browser is much easier. You can also click the links above, if you’re logged in on whatever device you’re seeing this post on.
Once you redeem the codes, you’ll get the rewards via in-game mail shortly after that.
It seems like no world — physical nor digital — is immune to the girly pop flair of NewJeans. The globally famous K-pop group made its debut in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds as part of the 30.1 update on Wednesday. The collaboration adds each member of the group as a playable character, adorable accessories to dress up your characters, emotes for popular dances set to songs like “OMG,” and more. Equal parts bizarre and wonderful, the PUBG update has already captured the fascination of fans online.
Krafton released the NewJeans x PUBG: Battlegrounds collaboration on Wednesday to Windows PC users and will release it to console users on June 20. The PC patch has introduced some environmental changes as well. For example, the Taego School has been transformed into a sparkly rainbow wonderland and there’s now a pink and purple truck stage on the starting island of every 8 km map. You can play as any member of NewJeans — Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, or Hyein — and dress your character up in adorable pastel accessories. You can view all the details on the PUBG site.
The collaboration brings a vibrant pop of color to the gritty world of PUBG. Just like other live-service games, PUBG is no stranger to surprising collaborations. PUBG has featured collaborations with the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion and other games like Angry Birds. Despite that, the NewJeans collab manages to stick out from previous events and now people online are sharing videos showing the girls emoting in the game. The dances just look that good. Here is a video of Minji from NewJeans doing several dances from songs like “Super Shy” and “OMG.”
It’s only been a day, but people have already started to make memes of the girl group in the game. This video features several moments, including one where Haerin dances on a knocked out played and then shoots them at point blank range.
I personally can’t get this video of several characters joining in on dancing the choreo for “Hype Boy” out of my head.
There’s a lot to check out, so if a ton of Bunnies suddenly found themselves interested in trying out PUBG, I wouldn’t blame them.
If you’re looking to level up your crafters and gatherers in Final Fantasy 14, completing weekly custom deliveries to eager clients is a great way to amass both EXP and scrips (the crafting/gathering currency).
Below, we explain how custom deliveries work in FFXIV and how to unlock them all.
Custom deliveries in FFXIV, explained
Custom deliveries are weekly quests you can complete to earn lots of crafting and gathering EXP and scrips. You’ll also gain satisfaction for each character you do deliveries for and their satisfaction levels will rise, teaching you more about the character. You can only complete a total of 12 custom deliveries per week and six per specific NPC. Deliveries reset every Tuesday morning.
Every week the clients will ask for a list of items that you can either craft or gather. You can check what items they want without even talking to them via opening the “duty” menu, selecting “timers,” and then selecting “custom deliveries.” (It’ll only show you the clients if you have them unlocked, though.)
Image: Square Enix via Polygon
You can buy all the materials needed for crafting from nearby merchants. For example, Zhloe and Adkiragh’s materials are bought from the Scrap Salvager in Idyllshire and Kurenai’s materials can be purchased from the Blue Merchant across from her in Tamamizu.
For gathering, you can check where the gathering nodes are by opening the custom delivery menu for that client, selecting the fish or gatherable, and selecting “display location” or “search for item by gathering method” respectively.
The higher collectability your crafted or gathered turn-in has, the more EXP and scrips you’ll get in return. Scrips can be used to purchase important crafting materials, materia, décor, and other useful loot from Scrip Exchange NPCs. Notably, you can use scrips to get some of the materials you need for your Heavensward Anima relic weapon.
Also, once you max out the client’s satisfaction, you can glamour them, dressing them up in whatever outfit you want. You can do this for all the clients except M’naago and Ehll Tou.
Rewards from custom deliveries
While EXP and scrips is a bountiful enough reward, some of the custom deliveries give out special rewards that are worth grabbing:
To get the above rewards, you’ll need to reach max satisfaction with these clients and complete a quest (given by the client) after doing so.
You’ll also get two titles from each client after reaching max satisfaction with them and after delivering 150 collectables to them.
Where to unlock all custom deliveries in FFXIV
Before you unlock custom deliveries, you need to unlock collectables, if you haven’t already. You can do this by completing the quest “Inscrutable Tastes” from Morgayne in the Foundation (Ishgard). You will also need to be at least level 50 in a crafting or gathering job to unlock collectables, but the first custom delivery client is available starting at level 55.
You will also have to complete these short conversation quests to unlock scrip exchanges and vendors for each expansion:
Heavensward: “Go West, Craftsman” from Lydirlona in Mor Dhona
Stormblood: “Reach Long and Prosper” from Galiena in Rhalgr’s Reach
Shadowbringers: “The Boutique Always Wins” from Mowen in Eulmore
Endwalker: “Expanding House of Splendors” from Ofpilona in Radz-at-Han
Two of the clients require you to unlock The Firmament, the hub for Ishgard Restoration. You can do this by completing the quest “Towards the Firmament” via the Recruitment Notice flyer near the Ishgard Aetheryte. You’ll need to complete most of this questline to unlock Ehll Tou and you’ll actually need all of it to unlock Charlemend, so you might as well do it all (unless you hate Charlemend for some reason).
Image: Square Enix via Polygon
As usual, these quests (and the ones to unlock the actual deliveries) are marked with a blue quest marker with a plus sign, so you should be able to find it just by opening your map and seeking out that icon.
Below, you can see where to unlock all of the custom deliveries in FFXIV.
Requires Stormblood expansion, The Firmament unlocked via “Towards the Firmament” side quest, side quest line for Ishgard Restoration completed up until at least Ehll Tou appears, Ehll Tou side quest “If Songs had Wings” completed
If you’re just starting out in the massive world of Final Fantasy 14, we have tons of guides to help you. We have a beginner’s guide to get you started, along with guides detailing when you’ll get your mount and which Grand Company you should join.
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